(Third person POV-Omniscient)

[From the day of Lord Gokudo's incident]

Rose struggled to free herself from Prince Daichi's iron grip but it was futile. Princess Akio glared at her but there was something on her face that said she was troubled.

Rose didn't want to go back to Daichi's castle since there was no point. He didn't even need her. He could easily marry Akio then why was he taking her back?

As they came out of the gate of Shinkyo, Daichi pushed Rose into the carriage, harshly.

Akio said in a ringing voice, "Brother Daichi... You shouldn't treat your wife like that. People will talk bad behind your back."

Daichi hissed, "Now, do I now need people to teach me how to handle my wife?"

Akio said, "Th—that... But a wife should know as well how to handle herself..." She looked at Rose and said, "Princess Rose, you shouldn't stay away from your husband otherwise who knows someone else might get your position..."

Rose looked away in anger but her heart thumped in pain because she knew Daichi was planning to make Akio his wife and he would demote her position as well. Soon, she would be a concubine of him and nothing more of than a shell.

She muttered, "Does it concern me anymore?"

Hearing this, Daichi's vein popped out in his forehead as anger rolled off from his skin. Rose flinched away as Daichi said, "Oh... So, it doesn't concern you anymore, does it?"

Rose didn't look at him as he hopped on the carriage and sat beside her, Akio sitting across them. The tension in the atmosphere made Rose suffocated that she wanted to run away but she knew there was no running away from him. She was his wife and he had all the rights to take her back.

Rose's eyes stared out of the carriage as their ride started to walk back to the palace.

However, she found later that it didn't go to the imperial palace instead it reached Daichi's castle.

To Kohoshi.

Rose was reluctant to go back there. She wanted to stay away from all those painful memories. 

And it would be the same as before if Akio stayed there. Akio would say something to him, and Daichi would take action on that. In the end, it was always Rose, who ended up taking in all of his anger.

As they entered the castle, Daichi caught Rose's hand and started to drag her to their room.

Akio was following them but Daichi said, "Akio, go back to your room."

Akio said, "But brother Daichi would bully Rose. I'm scared..."

Daichi glared at her as she flinched away as she said feigning she was scared of him as well. "Okay. If brother Daichi want me to go back then I will go back."

But before leaving, Akio took a glance at Rose with a wicked grin.

Rose knew she had told him something to agitate him otherwise he wouldn't be so angry right now. Her heart hammered against her chest as they entered their chamber and Rose somehow freed her wrist from his grip.

She asked as she brushed the bruise on her wrist where Daichi held a moment ago, "Why are you doing this?"

"Why am I doing this?" Daichi hissed, "You dare to leave this castle on your own."

Rose muttered, "But you don't even need me. You already got my parents' lands. What do you need me for?" She got herself a little courage and said, "Now you don't have any obstacles on your path. You can easily marry Akio like you wanted."

Muscles on Daichi's jaw clenched tightly as he heard her words. It made him angry as all he saw was red. It seemed she could talk for herself now.

"You got a good mouth there after spending time with that witch!" He growled, "Did that farmer princess taught you to talk back to your husband?!"

"Don't talk bad about sister Bianka! She would never do such thing." Rose said in an angry voice as she defended princess Bianka.

"Oh. So now you got enough courage to talk with that little mouth of yours... It is that woman's doing, isn't it?" Daichi's glares intensified and Rose didn't understand why he was so agitated about Princess Bianka.

She fought back even when she felt weak in the knees. Sister Bianka had never taught her any bad things. She didn't even badmouthed Daichi.

"Sister Bianka and brother Arashi are great people. They don't have time to teach lowly things. They let me do whatever I wanted. They even appointed a painter for me so I could focus on my life and she taught me to move on with my life with my own strength."

"So, you became a pet for them, didn't you? Akio is right about that."

Rose got angry at the mention of Akio. She just knew it had something to do with Akio.

She said, "At least they take good care of their pets unlike someone who only likes to vent out his anger."

And Daichi clenched his fists as he growled, "I will kill that witch! Just you wait, Rose, I will kill her and I will see how you tell these words back to me again. Because of her, brother Rian changed and you seemed to get a back bone. The empress doesn't even like her yet she has the audacity to marry the Wansai Prince!"

Fear came crashing on her heart as her words came out before she could realise, "Don't you dare touch her! She is pregnant and if you touch her or hurt her and her child, I will hate you more than I already do."

Tears started to fall from her eyes and Daichi looked at her with a shocked pair of eyes. He didn't believe she would say those words.

Rose saw a broken smile appeared on his lips as if it hurt him when she said that. It even hurt Rose because she didn't want to say that. She didn't really hate him even if he was always unreasonable to her.

"So, you hate me that much..." He muttered and her stomach tied into a knot.

Her voice shook as she asked, "Why wouldn't I? You always hated me and always thought that I am the reason for your father's death when I had never done anything. I don't even know why my own maid told those lies but you believed them not me."

She sniffed and continued, "You hurt me, Prince Daichi. You broke me to pieces and when I gave you everything you still came back to get more. I don't understand why are you doing this? What else do I have to offer you more when I had given my heart to you."

She cried and all her emotions came out. She had been silent all these time. She had been hurt all these time and loving him was hurting her more. She said, "You even crush my heart and made me a shell of an empty person. Tell me, prince Daichi, why would I not hate you when loving you only caused me suffer?"

Daichi had no words as he stood there looking at the woman, his wife, breaking bits by bits. His heart clenched painfully because it was because of him Rose was suffering. He had broken her too much. He had hurt her that it was even painful for him to see her like that.

Standing there, Prince Daichi thought what went wrong? Why it turned out like this? This wasn't supposed to be like this...

He knew Rose wasn't a woman who wanted his wealth or power but then why did he doubt her?

He couldn't understand any of this...

He knew she never loved him but now she confessed that she indeed loved him and he was the one who crushed her.

Rose sniffed, "The person whom you are badmouthing, is far more greater than your Akio." Rose added, "All you can see is Akio, Akio and Akio and never once judged if she was telling truth."

"The person you have been insulting has never once badmouthed anyone. She has judged fairly even if it was an enemy or a friend. She taught me to be myself. She taught me to get my strength back and not to back down. But all you have done is blindly following Akio because in your eyes, she is telling truth and the rest are nuisance."

She had never raised her voice before Daichi but today it was different. Even if Daichi came to hurt her, she would fight back. All these time she didn't fight back because she was loving him blindly too.

But that had to stop.

He took long strides and now Rose's heart thumped in fear but she held her ground because she won't stop fighting. He asked, his voice was calm but at the same time, it wrecked havoc in her heart, "Why do you always take out Akio's name? Are you jealous? Envious?"

It made Rose angry. Why would she be jealous of Akio?

She said as Daichi had crossed the distance between them and had captured her between the wall and him, "Why would I be? I am not a woman who keeps latching on someone else's husband. I have my own pride and even if I have nothing left to give I will never be jealous of someone whose aim is only to get power no matter how many men she needs to sleep with."

Rose's heart thumped as adrenaline rushed through her skin. She had seen Akio coming out of Daichi's personal chamber many times at night. And not to mention, she even used to go into other nobles' room at night. Otherwise why would people follow her? For her money?

She didn't have money or wealth. All those show off persona was because the empress favoured her. She didn't even have her own land because her uncle took the throne after killing her father. Rose knew this much of Akio so there was no way she would be jealous or envious of her.

But hearing that from Rose, veins popped out of Daichi's forehead as Rose tried to step back, clasping her palms on her chest. But there was no place to go away. He had trapped her. Her lips quivered in fear and she knew that she had angered him.

He asked his voice sounded breathy, "What do you mean by sleep with anyone?!"

Rose looked away as she didn't want to say those. Daichi had no idea about Akio being with other nobles' rooms at night. She knew even if she told him, he wouldn't believe it but more than that she didn't want to tell those because Daichi loved her.

What Daichi never understood was Akio was only using Daichi. There was no love from her. Marrying Daichi would make her the most powerful princess after princess Bianka. And Daichi was also qualified to take the throne from the emperor. In other words, Daichi was a good pawn for her. But in his eyes, Akio was a delicate woman. He didn't know the malicious side of her.

Rose said even when her heart thumped painfully, "I've — I've seen Akio coming out of your room many times!"

Her lips quivered and tears came out as she suddenly felt her broken heart breaking more. She didn't know why she loved him and was still wishing that he would change knowing so well he would break her again.

It broke her more that Daichi had never touched her when she was his wife yet he must have touched Akio so many times. She certainly felt jealous and envious now...

"Coming out of my room, you say..." He hissed raising his fist as she closed her eyes and waited for his hit.

Rose was shivering between the wall and him as his fist landed. But it landed just beside her face, on the rock behind her. She looked up at him with shocked eyes. His face looked like he was greatly hurt by her accusation and his fist got wounds.

His dark eyes intensified as he looked into her eyes and said, "I have never touched Akio. Not even once."

And with a defeated face, Daichi turned around.

Rose muttered, before he left the room. "But you love her..."

He had no words to say as he dashed away from there. His heart was squished and twisted in ways that it pained him.

Because Prince Daichi, himself didn't know if he loved Akio or not anymore.

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24th January, 23
2113
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A/n: It was the hardest chapter to write.

First, because I am having an intense headache and pox.

Second, writing about a character who is confused by his own feelings is very hard...!

Third, I wanted to clear some of their misunderstanding...so in the later chapters, more misunderstanding comes to the surface.

Anyways, my throat is aching... I'm about to sleep. Oyasumi!